Is the PSVita Doomed Before Its Release?

Sony debuted its new portable handheld gaming device, the Playstation Vita (or PSVita), recently at the annual E3 convention. Now, it looks like a couple game developers are saying that they are not really interested in developing games for it. With the recent price reduction in the Nintendo 3DS, it is hard to image anyone willing to pay $299 for the PSVita.

Even though there may still be a market for hard core gamers who are loyal to portable devices, with the introduction of multifunctional tablets, the gaming industry has seen an increase in the casual gamer that has boosted tablet sales tremendously. Recently, GameIndustry.biz spoke with two game developers who shared their thoughts on why the PSVITA will fail, and how tablets have changed the market for portable gaming.

“The technology is sweet, I’m a huge fan of mobile technology, but I just don’t know there’s a market out there anymore for the hardware. I can’t see why you would want to put a device out that only does games.

The consumer has spoken. We wanted to see that world exist – more players, more opportunities for us, but at the same time people don’t want that. Unless there’s a super technology paradigm shift it’s not going to shift back.” -Lyle Hall of Heavy Iron Studios Source: GameIndustry.biz

“While it’s a nice achievement from Sony in the first step it’s not something we would take into consideration in the short term…

I can see that the multifunctions that devices like tablets offer is a big advantage of them. And I think people want one mobile device that can do multiple things.

Considering this, I think those handhelds are lacking in that area and they are losing ground, actually. I think they have to be more innovative.” -Avni Yerli, Managing Director at Crytek Source: GameIndustry.biz

The PSVita is set to release in Japan this year, with the US and Europe the following year. The outlook is pretty grim if popular developers like Crytek (known for Crysis and Far Cry) are backing off already from developing for the device. Without a nice stable of available games during its release, the PSVita could already be looking at a price cut to make the technology more appealing to the changing gaming market.